You are browsing the archive for 2016 February.

As print circulations fall, editors come under pressure to make cuts and lately, more often than not, it’s cartoonists who are first to kneel before the chopping block.

The Mirror, having recently axed the popular Horace strip cartoon – it had been running for twenty six years – has now cut Kerber and Black’s input from around twelve to fourteen cartoons a week down to just three. Playboy is dropping gag cartoons altogether. There are many other similar tales of woe throughout the industry, not least the sad demise of Indy and Sindy as going concerns, print-wise.

Two print publications, however, are recording sales increases – and both are notoriously cartoon friendly!

Step forward Private Eye and The Oldie.

The Oldie’s sales have risen 14.6% year on year whilst Private Eye recorded its best figures since 1992 in the second half of last year.

We’re not suggesting that carrying lots of lovely cartoons is the sole reason for their success – both being canny enough not to put all their content online for free hasn’t done them any harm – but we thoroughly agree with Ian Hislop’s view that some editors are missing a trick by losing the cartoons.

And the contrast in direction of sales figures of both cartoon-content-rich magazines compared to most of their peers suggest he has a point.

The social networking giant Facebook removed a political cartoon (shown here) posted by Kashmiri cartoonist Mir Suhail and barred him from his popular fan site on Tuesday, February 9. A Facebook official notified Suhail that the cartoon had been censored for “violating community standards.” The cartoon in question shows roots from the grave of Afzal Guru, who was hanged by the Indian Government in 2013, joining up with a distant tree labeled “Kashmir.”

The cartoonist, who works for the Srinagar-based journal Rising Kashmir, also succinctly summed up his feelings about the situation with this cartoon, as seen on a CRNI screen grab.

Drawing by the time he was three, Jules Feiffer has gone on to enjoy a multi-faceted career as a cartoonist, playwright, novelist, historian, screenwriter, political commentator and illustrator, picking up an Oscar and a Pulitzer along the way.

The great man recently celebrated his 87th birthday but continues to write, draw and attend conventions; a wonderfully creative and inspirational human being.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, an affiliate of the International Federation of Journalists, has accused a scurrilous website group of promoting the assault of journalists by posting the unfounded claim that 24 named Palestinians — including 15 journalists and bloggers — are supporters of terrorism.

Political cartoonists Osama Nazzal, Marwa Alhelo and Mohammad Saba’aneh (pictured) are among those named by the ‘European Institute Against Incitement’ website.

Under the names of the 24 Palestinians it has compiled, the European Institute Against Incitement does not list any purported offences — but it lists the name of their spouse, the number of children they have, where they live, their phone numbers and social media addresses, and the names of the members of their extended families.

You can read more about these spurious accusations – and CRNI director Robert Russell’s condemnation and rebuttal – on the CRNI website.

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